Cloud-Native Architecture

Definition - What does Cloud-Native Architecture mean?

Cloud-native architecture is an architecture or system that has been built specifically to run in the cloud. Cloud-native architectures have the benefit of more flexibility over legacy systems that were built to run on a particular hardware infrastructure, and may be difficult to migrate to the cloud later.

Techopedia explains Cloud-Native Architecture

Cloud-native architecture makes use of the cloud philosophy of distributed systems. It is not built on physical servers residing on a particular enterprise site, because it is deployed in the cloud, and often through multi-cloud implementations, so that one part of the system may be on one vendor’s servers, and another part may be on some other vendor’s servers.

As a result, cloud-native architectures are forced to take advantage of the newest and best technologies around distributed systems. For example, container virtualization has been hailed as a marvel of efficiency for virtualized systems. Cloud-native architectures develop these resources into platforms that can withstand more change, and manage looser or less centralized sets of resources. In a sense, cloud-native architectures that are well designed actually make use of the versatility and scalability benefits made possible by the cloud, while other implementations may not. All of this leads companies to consider the use of cloud-native solutions in IT upgrades.